Method of making columnar structures



Sept. 26, 1933. v F HAMMEL 1,928,017

METHOD OF MAKING COLUMNAR STRUCTURES Filed April 11; 1931 INVENTOR vmr F. H mq ATTORN EYS Patented Sept. 26,

, r 1,923,017" I 1 D ,OFQMAKING ooL MNA Victor FL'Ham'mel, New YorkN; Y, i I I App-llica'fiim bi l 11. 1931. ee! no. 529,407 ,1 g

This invention pertains to "metal .pole-' struc-- tures moreparticularly of the typeintendedforthe support of overhead communication or transmission lines, or asa standard for electricstreet 1. lamps. Morespecifically the invention relates w;

claimed a latticed metal pole for purposes stated which combines maximum strength against bend- 201i ing, twisting or-compressive stresses with light-;

nessof weight and facility and economy of construction. The patented structure comprises rods wound in left and right hand intersecting helices.

together-with stiffened or flanged bars extending .in alignment with the intersections of said rods, all of the rods and bars being electrically welded together at points of contact.

A-pole thus formedis ideally bracedagainst" every sort of'bendin twisting, compressive or tensile stress, Its strength is thus correspondinga as a .columnor,

ly great when acting as a beam,

when subject to torsion. I

The trussed longitudinal members-have inher- 'ent stifiness against bending andbeing bound ring helically extending linesofccimpression of a solid. or. tubular pole sustaining a load, render the pole of maximum strength as a column. I

accordance'with both right and left hand spirals a set'of tension members are provided1to take up the load regardless .ofth'e direction o'f'twist.

Thus the torsional strength of the polefis. in f creased since the members are able to withstand without failure much greater loads when acting under tension than under compression.

By. electrically welding the longitudinal bars and latticing rods at the points of .contact the strength of the pole is not only increased as com- 1 paredto the employment ofrii'zeted, clamped-or bolted joints, but the construction thereof may be accomplished 'With much greatenfa'cilityand:

7 economy. Where riveted or bolted joints are employed the necessity for punching and aligning 1 the bolt holes, andinserting and capping the bolts well as, utility. Poles employed as street-lighting};

the featuresfof the helically arranged pole of my together by'rodswhich follow the naturallyoccur- 1 .By causingthe'rods to extend as explained, in

the construction; I 1

dur'e than electric welding. w The present invention has'for one of its objects 1 the provision of an .improved pole in-accordance is inherently aslower and more err pensive, proce-,;: r

with broad principles of my patent. .I-The modi-y ficationnisclosed herein adds to the features .iof the patented device, additionatadvantages; applied in novel andunique fashiontatliegbasic structure. I -The construction of the improvedpoleis such. that'it ofiers .tremen'dousresistance againstearth. vmovement when implanted directly inthe ground. .7

The helically wound rods and thexlongitudinally extending members are, Sowelded'together at the intersectionsas to insure theutmost strength-.;

Artistic simplicity and elegance .of designjrender the cornp'leted structure highly,v acceptable. under circumstances which call; for ornamentation BS standards are illustrative of such use.

, uiteaside from the above discussionflt maynot I point to construct thepoles by winding the latticing rods in, continuous helical paths. Possibly it; may prove. more feasible, under-certain; C Qndir: tions, to utilize latti'cingmembers which extend;

. zig-zag fashion between .Lad-jacent ,longitudinals.

In general, however, such construction could not, be. employed consistent with retention of all-of;

patent aforesaid. j 1

Accordinglypa second object the invention is toprovide a pole having latticing members-of.

zig-zag formation; which nevertheless; is sub-1 stantially the mechanical I equivalent ofmy 05 patented structure wherein the latticingiis ac; complished by winding rods in continuous-helical;

paths.

. n t d w nef Y Fig.1;showsin side elev tionthe improvedpole 4 in accordance with this invention which utilizes;

{helically wound rodsaslatticingelementsp f" 4 7 Fig; 2 is apartial pierspective'view oithpol" of Fig. 1 withportions broken away to disclose a Fig. 3' isasection along the line 3 3 ofF1gg-2;. Fig, 4 isa detail of'the Fig. 2 construction which discloses one. arrangement employed' for welding: 7

the rodsand bars a't'points' of contact. In this; showing the rods are slightly kinked at the cross-r. over to permit'lcontactin each instance with the anglef ;bar at the edges thereof;

,-Figs. -5{and.6 detail a modification in which the intersecting rodsare forced by pressure or by pressure combined with electrical fusing thereof always beexpedient from amanufacturingstand; M

a so.

into a common plane at the edges-of. the angle 7 bar; to permit welding'thereto; 1 M

Fig. 'lis a detail which discloses the manner of i applying the zig-zag latticingconstruction to the 5 pole of Fig; 1 in'such manner as to retain in sub- 7 together 'with'angle' bars B. extending in alignment with the intersections of the rods, all of the rods and bars being electrically welded 1 togetherat the contact points B The rods may or may not be welded to each other at the points 'on cross- 1 s over disee Fig. 4).

1 The angle bars are;positioned'about the helithe ground; as shown, for example, in Fig! 1'.

Thus referring to Figure 3-,itwill be apparent that-any tendency to: produce a lateral 'shifting of the pole in the 'groundfwill cause the'ea'rth to become. more densely wedged or packed between 7, adjacent" angle bars in thedirectionof shift,

- thereby greatly increasing the movement resist,-

ing' lactionfof the pole.

" In any movement of the pole in the earth there is-ani'annulus of e'arth -having bbundariescomprising the-inner and outer radial limits of the [angle barsjwhich moves in conjunctionwiththe virtue of the greater frictional resistance between the shell 'of e'arth' and the surrounding earth. If the entire material enclosed'within the annulus mehtioned were of steel orlwood,"thepole would 4, cut through the earth much more readily than with the construction 'shown,-=*becausethe *coefiiicient of frictionfbetwee'n earth-and wood; or between "earth and steel is considerably less" than that betweenearth and earth. I

woven lattieing rods and 11-h are kinked at the point of c'ross-overd to'permit contact for welding'at each of the points B The; rodsa-a and b-'-b mfiy or may notbe'welded together at ing i'ods and angle bars are all fastened to each other-in suchmanner as to form an integral structure ofmaximumstrength at the joints.

In the modified construction oi Figs. 5- and. 6

the rods substantially into a common surface of contact at the edgesofthe'bar B-ah'dat the point of cross ove'r d. Inthis way welding isleffected. A between the angle bar E and the rods afq and bb at the four contact points B *andat the cross over d. gThe-fusing at d is such} that the rods w'"a and 12 12 become-in' -ei iec't"a single piece of metal of latticed configuration This not only provides an 7 exceptionally strong joint but one which is neat and trim ofappearance. f

I ber becomes the extension orprolongation of the members.

,bers and iswelded theretoat th'efi ontact points "131,

cally extending 'member's; with "their vertices directed outwardly; this particularconstruction being-ideally: adapted to prevent shifting ormovement of the pole when supporteddirectly inpole; producing an increasing resistive action by pared to that required for the latticing Referring to Fig; 4 the oppositely wound or the point of cross-overd. In this way the lattic-- the ruods afa and b b are reduced to a state atticmg rods with their vertices 1n opposed con ot fused-"piasticity V-adiacent the cross-over by passage of a heavy electrical current through' the a joint; {Coincident with the fusing of the -lrods,,.

pressure applied to the several elements forces 2. The d 'm km a h' b meta pole or column consistin 'of l'latticingmembers of similar zig-Zzag j configuration, "and angle, bars, which" comprises, arranging adjacent latticing contact 1 75. It 'i' 'but a step 'from the helic'ally arranged fused latticing of Figs. 5 and 6 to the fused zig-zag latticing of Fig. 7. In the latter construction the latticingmembers a1-.b1,' and cl-e1 of identical zig-zag configuration are arranged with. their vertices opposed; As fusing is accomplished by the passage ofcurrent-through the contact 1 Q point d1; the latticingmembers are pressed together into; an integral assembly' such that the rectilinearsegment b1- d-1'.of one latticing meme rectilinear segment d1e1 of the other latticing The angle bar 13, .a'shefore, extends in alignment with the joints of the latticing mem- Acc ordinglyth g-za lattigin as thus applied becomes in substance the mechanical equiv-,-

ale'nthfthe helical latticing such as disclosed in Figs. 5 anda6. The distinctions between the two constructionsreside principally in the method of formation-rather than in'the result attained.- 'Figs.' 8 and 9 show the. zig-zag latticed construction as applied to a pole employing T bars instead of angle bars'for the'longitudinal's. The ,T bars have theirvertical portions directed'irl-i wardly to provide a-convenieht flange (Fig; 9)

to which thelatticing rods g and care welded at i their vertices d2. a A v It will be observed that in each ofthe poles shown, the intersecting rods and bars are so connected that the resulting latticingpattern constitutes a-succession of triangles. The 'tri-f angle as is well understood-is the only theoreti cally non-collapsibleplane figure of skeleton constr'uc'tion. It results therefrom that the poles disclosed herein must necessarily utilize the metal most emcientlyto the endsofmaximum strength consistentwith lightness; since not only 'ishthe' 7 structure considered as a =unit 'ideally bracd; against every sort of 'stress,I-"but the elementallm portions thereof areso braced-as well;

It has been determined oraiiticallyv as a resultof numerous tests'on' polesin accordance with this invention, that due to the ideal trussing er'nployed, it suflices to employ latticing rodsof exe ceptionally small cross-sectionalarea as commembers of skeleton polesin common use. V In the appended claims the terms helix,

helices, etc. is intended .to include atrue' helix- 5 of constantgenerati'ng radius throughout its entire extent as well as. a "tapered helix -wherein the'generating radius is variable'with length; Iclaim: 7 1. The method of making a latticedi metal pole or column consisting of stififened "longitudinal bars and latticing rods of similar-zig-zag config-f urationf'which comprises, arranging adjacent tact," extending said stiffened bars inrelation of contact.

members with ,their' vertices opposed, extending vertices with'the flanges thereof respectively contiguous the opposedf l'atticing members and weld ing saidbars and latticing members at pointsof merci s. HAMME'L.

iwith the aligned vertices of; said rods, and' weld ing all of said rods and barstogether at points cen'riricars or CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,928,017. September 26, 1933.

' VICTOR r. HAMMEL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, lines 134-135, claim 1, for "contact" read relation; and iine 135, for "relation" read contact; and that the said Letters Patent should he read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of November, A. l). 1933.

F. M. Hopkins (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

